


Travelers in the Dark

by Listenerofshadows



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Crying, Gen, In Which Virgil is a vampire hermit who gets befriended by three humans, Non-Graphic Violence, Panic Attack, Platonic LAMP - Freeform, Profanity, Vampire AU, Villainous Deceit Sanders, Vomit Mention, and nothing bad happens ever, blood mention, but there's a happy ending I promise, death mention, okay I lied
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-20 21:31:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16563515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listenerofshadows/pseuds/Listenerofshadows
Summary: Virgil is a monster, an outcast to both humanity and his own kind. It is better for him and everyone else if he secluded himself in a nature park, where it is safe.All Virgil had wanted was one quiet night in the park. Of course that stargazing idiot had to get himself into trouble and cause Virgil to have to step in and save him. Now there’s a silver knife sticking out his chest and he’s bleeding to death. Great.





	1. Night Falls, With Gravity

**Author's Note:**

> (Chapter Title is taken from “Semi-Automatic” by Twenty-One Pilots)
> 
> This is the first chapter of the fic I did for the @sanderssidesbang on Tumblr. Awhile back I posted on Tumblr the outline of the original ending I’d planned for When the Blazing Sun is Gone and @iamsilentwolf on there expressed an interest in seeing an actual fic and well, here we are! 
> 
> HUGE THANKS to Acantha_Echo for not only being a fantastic beta and friend but also encouraging me to expand this fic past an one-shot. Literally, nothing past this first chapter would exist without them.

The man was in the park again.

Virgil scowled, crossing his arms as he watched from the nook of an oak tree. He’d hoped he would be able to hunt in peace tonight. He didn’t like hunting in the park when there could be witnesses. Even though the man hardly strayed from his spot—there was too many scenarios where it could go all wrong.

Virgil attempted to ignore his heart beating uncomfortably close against his chest, as an icy chill spread through his body. It wasn’t as if the man was a threat—Virgil had watched the man enough times to know he was only your typical average human.

 He was not a human who lurked in a park after dark to stir trouble. Nor was he the type of human that’d be out to get Virgil’s head nailed to his wall as a trophy type of variety.

However, he was a human who enjoyed spending time in a park after dark and that was unusual from what Virgil had seen and observed of humans. Most humans would view that as idiotic—although was there such a thing as a human being that wasn’t a clueless moron? The damn things seemed to enjoy sticking their noses where they didn’t belong all the time.

Something bad was going to happen tonight.  Virgil couldn’t pinpoint a discernible cause for this thought—he just knew in the depths of his nearly immortal soul that an evil was going to befall on the quiet park.  

It couldn’t be the man. He was too invested in fiddling around with the instruments he brought with him. Well, not instruments of the musical kind—although sometimes a bubbly man accompanied the man with a such an instrument in tow. 

No, it was some sort of tools—he used them to stare at the night sky with. There was a specific word for them—Virgil knew it once long ago, but he’d been too negligent to remember it.

He’d been sure that he learned it at school, but then again, he’d forgotten many things about school. It turned out that the public-school education wasn’t too helpful when it came to preparing vampires for adulthood. Or plain old human beings for that matter. It made him feel silly how anxious he got over getting grades on subjects that weren’t applicable to his current living situation. 

Then again, his way of living was strange even for vampires. Most lived in covens—not as a recluse getting by on the blood of wildlife creatures in a nature park. Damn was he pathetic.

His heart continued to thrash louder, and his senses screamed at him to flee the scene before the danger arrived. But, odd as it was, he couldn’t leave. As much as he was annoyed at the man’s presence—he was a common fixture at the park at this point.

 Virgil had grown accustomed to his patterns. If another man came to replace him, Virgil would have to rework his routines all over again. That was too much work and Virgil did not like to work hard.

He had to know if this omen was correct, or if he was just freaking out over nothing.

A half hour passed as Virgil stood there, scarcely breathing, as he watched the man observe the night sky. It was extremely boring, he admitted privately to himself. He did not understand why the man took such great pleasure in staring at the sky that he visited the park repeatedly for the experience. The night sky was illuminating and comforting, yes, but it was just that; the sky.

He did realize that perhaps there was something more to the sky than just the sky. Great mysteries to be unearthed and miracles to marvel over—but he couldn’t care less. He had enough worrying to do over surviving until his next meal. Worrying over the mysteries of space was too much.

He grew complacent in watching the man, so much so, that he did not sense the danger until it lumbered up to the man. “It” being a very drunk male human. What a drunkard was doing in the middle of the night in a nature park, Virgil didn’t have the faintest idea.

He was once told that humans became even more idiotic when induced with alcohol. Virgil wished he could say he was surprised humans chose to willingly drink something that caused that effect—but he really wasn’t. Not after witnessing countless acts done by humans not under the influence of alcohol.

Virgil’s best guess was that in his state of drunkenness, the man got lost and stumbled into the park. He was too far away to hear the conversation. He could only hear the angry rumblings of the drunk man, as he waved and pointed accusingly at the other man. Virgil’s stargazing idiot responded in short, calm murmurs. The tentative peace didn’t last for long. Something must’ve set the drunk man because suddenly he was pointing a knife in the other man’s direction.

Virgil’s eyes widened. It shouldn’t be that surprising to him that the drunk man had turned to violence. He knew from experience that humans—despite their fragility—could be just as violent as vampires, if not more so. They hid behind a façade of helplessness only to strike when it was least expected.

He should’ve just turned around and not get himself wrapped up in a mess that didn’t involve him. But he didn’t.  Rather than fleeing from the danger, he ran towards it. The drunk man drew the knife towards the stargazing idiot but Virgil tackled him before the blade even touched the other man’s skin.

Ohgodohgodohgod what was he doing? He knew nothing of fighting. The two tumbled a bit, until Virgil landed on top of him. The scent of the alcohol was intoxicating, and he almost gagged at the scent. But the scent of sweet blood caused him not to withdraw. In the scuffle, one of the man’s arms was cut and now the precious red liquid oozed out of the scrape. He reached forward to taste it when something sharp jabbed at his side.

He hissed in pain, his lips curling back to reveal his fangs. Even in his drunken haze, the man seemed to recognize the danger. He threw Virgil off of him, as he went screaming into the thickets of the forest. Virgil moved to pursue after him—it was hard for a vampire to let prey go that easy without a proper feeding.

But when he tried rising to his feet, a burning sensation flared up in his chest, rendering him motionless. His eyes traveled downwards to look at the culprit. The moonlight gleamed off the edge of the knife currently lodged in between his ribs. Silver. Of course, it had to be silver. Out of all the metals in the world—it was silver. What are the odds of that happening? Not infinitesimal, that was for sure.

His vision started to grow blurry as a figure hovered over to inspect him—the man. The stargazing idiot.

“Get it out.” Virgil moaned, closing his eyes shut.

“I can’t.”

“Get. It. Out.”

“If I pull it out, you will bleed out. Listen, I’m going to call 911.”

“Get it out, NOW!” He hissed, flashing his fangs at him.

The human flinched, but he didn’t run off like the other had. That surprised Virgil as that was typically what humans did when faced with a vampire. That, or they’d push the knife further into his guts—gifting the world one less vampire to deal with. Instead, the man stared at him, his lips pressed into a firm line.

“Li—listen,” Virgil gritted his teeth, “either you pull out the knife, or I’m gonna fricking die.”

“Alright,” The man said, pushing up his glasses before placing his hands on the knife.

He acted calm and composed, but Virgil can tell by the tenseness in his shoulders and the look in the man’s eyes that he was absolutely terrified for potentially being responsible for another being’s death.

He didn’t give Virgil a warning before he yanked it out. Virgil screeched as the pain intensified. He no longer felt like he was being baked alive—and for that he was at least grateful. Blood gushed out of the wound—staining his favorite shirt. It was practically his only shirt, which was why it was his favorite. Something clothed pressed against the wound—the man’s jacket. His mouth moved, but Virgil couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. All he could focus on was the pain.

“H—hey,” He mumbled, interrupting the man, “T-th—hank you.”

He wanted to add onto those words. Maybe something like “Thank you for not letting me die by silver poisoning” or “You better fricking enjoy those stars for me, moron.”

But everything suddenly grew fuzzy and distant. He could feel his consciousness being dragged away from him unwillingly, and he was too weak to fight it. The last thing he saw was the frightened eyes of the human framed by wire glasses. It wasn’t too bad of a sight to die on, he decided.

The man’s life was indubitably more valuable than a vampire recluse living in a park despite being a human. Who knew, maybe the man would unlock the secrets of the universe gazing into those stars of his. It was a ridiculous thought, but it made Virgil feel a bit better about the whole dying process. Yes, he was ready for an eternal slumber of no return. God knows he needed the rest.

 

Which was why, he was immensely confused when he woke up in an unfamiliar location, with a man staring at him. Not the stargazing idiot, but another man. His hair defied the laws of gravity, presumably with the use of hair gel. Virgil never met a human with hair that slicked upwards naturally like that. He wore a red t-shirt with a crown logo on it and jeans.

In his hands was—was that a fricking sword in his hands?! It wasn’t a broadsword but rather slender in nature, like a fencing sword. The man’s eyes glanced down at his sword and then back at Virgil. Almost as if he dared him to make a move. Virgil’s eyes narrowed in response.

“Hey.” He croaked.

“Hello.” The man returned the gesture, more out of obligation than anything else.

Virgil opened his mouth but hesitated. He wasn’t sure how to proceed, as numerous questions swarmed his mind. Such as, what happened? Where was he? Was he dead? Did the afterlife really take the form of a messy apartment room? And what the frick was up with the human wielding a sword?

“Oh! You’re awake!” The voice of a possibly angelic being cheerfully rang out.

Yet another man entered the room—still not his stargazing idiot.  He was short, possibly coming up to Virgil’s chest if he was standing up right now. He wore a hoodie with sweatpants. On a closer look, Virgil realized that the hood and sleeves of the hoodie was decorated to look like cat ears and paws. Soft brown bangs poked out of his hood, partially obscuring his robin blue eyes. Freckles dotted across his cheeks like sprinkles on a cake.

The man with the sword relaxed marginally at the sight of the other man. The sword was still clutched tightly in his hands, however.

“Thank you so much for saving Logan!” Cat Hoodie beamed, smothering Virgil in a hug.

Virgil stiffened, surprised by the action. He’d never received an affectionate gesture such as this from a human before. He’d been feared by others, adults and children alike for as long as he could remember. Teachers always kept a watchful gaze on him, as if fearing he’d bite someone when their back was turned. Parents forbade their children from befriending him. His peers either ignored or bullied him.

But this human didn’t even hesitate to gather him in his loving hold. The touch was light and comforting, not meant to cause pain in any shape or form. Virgil hesitantly placed his arms around the man as well, his fingertips gingerly touching the fabric of his hoodie. The man collapsed against Virgil, sobbing as his frame shook, and Virgil panicked. Looking up at the man with the sword didn’t help matters. He placed a hand on Cat Hoodie, glaring at Virgil while doing so.

Was the man crying because of him? Did he do something wrong? Did he cross a line?!

“I’m—I’m sorry,” The man murmured as he eventually withdrew. He took off his glasses and wiped them against the edges of his hoodie. “I just got emotional—thinking about what could’ve happen to Logan if you weren’t there. You were really brave, you know!”

He beamed at Virgil, who was at a lost as to what to say. No one ever called him brave. What he did wasn’t brave. He didn’t even know why he had done it. He was just a coward who lived in a nature park because he was too afraid to face his actions of his past.

“Careful, padre,” The other human stage-whispered, “He’s a vampire—for all we know, he was planning on feeding on both of their blood.”

Virgil’s insides turned to lead as Cat Hoodie’s smile faltered. He knew it. This was the moment where he took back his words and called Virgil out for what he truly was—a monster.

Instead, Cat Hoodie turned to face the other man.

“Roman! That’s not a nice thing to say!” He chastised, “and why do you have your katana with you?!”

Roman spluttered, looking like a child being reprimanded by a parent.

“J-just in case you know, he decided to attack us in our sleep.”

“Just because he’s a vampire, doesn’t mean he’s a bad one!” Patton protested before glancing over to Virgil, “right?”

“Um, yeah.” He blinked.

“Besides, he’s hardly in a position to get up from that couch,” A new voice joined in, “not without tearing his stitches, at least.”

“You,” Virgil breathed.

A man stood behind the couch—the man, Virgil’s stargazing idiot. Or Logan, he supposed. That was what Cat Hoodie referred to him as, anyways. He was dressed in a more formal attire compared to the other two–a black polo shirt with a dark blue tie and black slacks.

“Good morning,” Logan addressed him, “You’re lucky that I happen to know a thing or two about stitching up wounds.”

“What?”

“He’s a vet!” Cat Hoodie piped up cheerfully, “He gets to look after cute animals all day long—like cats!”

“I still don’t understand your infatuation with cats when you can’t even pet them without sneezing, Patton.”

Patton shrugged his shoulders, “I like cats!”

Logan awkwardly cleared his throat, “Yes—well, why don’t you two go to the kitchen while I check up on his wounds?”

“But Logan—”

Patton grabbed Roman’s arm, cutting him off.

“Come on, Ro! You can help me make cinnamon rolls—I’ll let you lick the extra frosting!”

Patton dragged the unwilling man behind him, giving a wink to Logan as they left. He rolled his eyes before focusing his gaze on Virgil.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, my name is Logan Powell, the fool with the sword is Roman Prince and Patton Hart is the one with the cat hoodie—what’s your name?”

“Virgil.” He said after a short hesitation. It’d been a while since he shared that name with anyone.

“Well, Virgil, I apologize for Roman’s eccentric antics, I can imagine waking up to a sword in your face to be rather startling.” Logan fiddled with his glasses.

“It’s alright.” Virgil murmured, watching Logan suspiciously. Who was this man who willingly brought a vampire into their dwelling, let alone cleaned up their wounds? Did he view Virgil as one of his patients—a mindless animal that needed to be locked up?

Logan brought out a first aid kit, unlatching it before looking up at Virgil hesitantly.

“Ah, is it alright if I touch you?”

Not really. But Virgil nodded regardless. He uncovered the blanket, for Logan to look at the stitched-up wound. He unwrapped the bandages, and Virgil did his best not to hiss out in pain. The area was still very delicate.

“Fascinating. It looks like it’s healing faster than I anticipated.” Logan remarked, “Do you always heal this fast?”

“More or less.”

“I always theorized that to be the case with your kind, but information on your physiology is so frustratingly hard to find.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes. “Is that why you brought me here then? To run experiments on me?”

“No! That’s not it at all—"

“Then why else bring me here—” Virgil wheezed.

“Virgil, you need to breathe.” Logan said gently.

“I—I am breathing!” Virgil snapped, as his breathing grew quicker and shallower with each breath.

“Breathe with me, in for four seconds. One, two, three, four–good! Now we’ll hold our breath for seven seconds and then breathe out for eight seconds.” Logan instructed. It took several cycles for Virgil’s breathing to resume to normal.

“Virgil, I have no intentions of keeping you captive against your will nor would I ever experiment on you. You are free to leave whenever you’d like.”

“But?”

Logan sighed, “I would feel better if you stayed a few days with us, at least, to make sure your wound closes up and doesn’t get infected.”

“Why?” Virgil demanded, “Why do you care so much?”

Logan was silent for a moment, brows furrowed as he examined Virgil.

“Why did you save me?”

“Wh—what?” Virgil spluttered, not expecting that question to be thrown at him.

“Why did you save me?” Logan repeated.

“Maybe I didn’t mean to save you,” Virgil countered, “I’m a vampire. I attack people to suck their blood.”

“And I am a human, I do not see what species has to do with this,” Logan raised an eyebrow, “If you were after both of us, like Roman thinks, it’d be illogical to attack that man before he stabbed me. It’d be wiser to save your energy and let him wound me rather than keep him from hurting me, unless you meant to save my life. Did you?”

“I—” Virgil’s heart pounded uncomfortably against his chest, “I don’t know! Why do you go to a nature park late night to look at stars alone? Do you know how dangerous that is? You’re just a human—you could’ve gotten mauled by a bear, moron!”

“So, you chose to save my life, even though you see me as a moron?” Logan asked, seemingly unphased by Virgil’s insult.

“Well—yeah,” Virgil huffed, “You may be a stargazing idiot, but you still have friends you care about you,”

He nodded towards the direction of the kitchen, where faint laughter and renditions of Disney songs could be heard, “and that’s more than I can say about myself.”

“Did you save me because you viewed my life as more valuable than yours?”

“I don’t know, maybe?!” Virgil attempted to wrap his arms around his knees, only to hiss in pain from the action. Right. He’d forgotten about the whole stabbing thing. Logan gave him an unimpressed look. Flushing red in embarrassment, he hastily continued on, “Look, you don’t have to pretend and go along with the ‘vampires and humans are equals’ bullshit. I’m a vampire, I get it. Of course, my life isn’t as valuable as yours.”

“Virgil, do you think if I really believed you didn’t deserve to be treated with the same kindness I’d grant to another human being, that you would be here?” Logan asked softly.

He said nothing, studying the human’s face. What was the point that the man was attempting to drive at? Was it a trap? A ploy?

Sensing Virgil’s hesitance, the human continued on.

“Vampire or not, a life is a life. The odds of you and I existing in the first place is infinitesimal, never mind the chances of us meeting. Life isn’t something you should take for granted. You saved my life, it was only logical for me to save yours in return. Do you understand?”

It took him a moment for him to respond. He never viewed his existence in such a way before. He thought about all the reasons why he shouldn’t be alive. But he never once thought about how the fact he even existed in the first place should be something to celebrate.

“Y-yeah, I think so,” Virgil swallowed a lump in his throat, “still, you didn’t answer my questions about why you go stargazing, though.”

A smile flitted onto Logan’s face.

“Because life is a gift that should be cherished. There is so much about our universe that there is to explore and discover. Stars are one such thing. I find that works of art or even pictures are nothing compared to the real thing. Nothing can truly capture the sight of a starry night like the experience of the real thing.”

“Doesn’t staring at the stars make you feel small and insignificant?” Virgil blurted out.

“They make me feel small, yes, but not insignificant. Awestruck is the better word. I’m left amazed that I exist in such a beautiful and fascinating universe.”

Patton popped his head hesitantly around the corner of the hallway that led to the kitchen.

“Hey, just wanted to let you two know that breakfast is ready!”

“Thank you, Patton. I’ll be there in a moment.” Logan responded. The other bobbed his head in affirmation before heading back to Roman.

“What are you doing?” Virgil asked, watching as the human loosened his tie and unbuttoned the collar of his polo.

A blush crept onto the man’s face as he sputtered out an answer to the vampire.

“Well I–you–you need nourishment, do you not?”

Virgil snorted, amused by the man’s proposition. He never met a human offer up their blood so willingly. He’d be suspicious of Logan’s motives, except the man had proven himself to be an unusually genuine person.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, but I’m not sure how much your friend with the sword would appreciate me drinking your blood.”

“I assure you that Roman is all talk.” Logan rolled his eyes, “I’d rather prefer you getting the substance you need in order to rest and heal properly than starve.”

“Are you sure?” Virgil asked.

“I am sure,” Logan said, maintaining eye contact with him, “Admittedly I am nervous–but that is only a natural reaction to a new experience I’ve yet to undergo. I trust you.”

“Trust me?” Virgil laughed, “I’m a vampire.”

“Yes, a vampire that saved my life.” Logan gave him a look, “your point?”

Virgil averted his gaze, shifting uncomfortably. What was it about this human and his ability to break down the walls that Virgil spent years constructing?

“It’s just, been awhile since I’ve drank from a human,” Virgil mumbled, “tap my arm if you start to feel lightheaded, okay?”

“Understood.” Logan kneeled down by the couch, allowing Virgil to bend down and latch onto his neck with his fangs.

The human only let out a small yelp of pain. Which was to be expected. Vampires’ saliva numbed the bittened area, causing their targets to feel little to no pain. After months of surviving on the blood of animals, Logan’s blood was like a gourmet buffet table of all the vitamins Virgil desperately needed.  Still, even with his warning Virgil withdrew long before Logan had to tap his arm. Vampires had to be careful with first-time donors; they weren’t very durable. The last thing he wanted to do was kill Logan.

Virgil had seen those eyes. Roman would not hesitate to use that sword to decapitate him.

“That was…fascinating! It almost felt like a needle–”

“Hey, Microsoft Turd! The cinnamon rolls are getting cold!” Roman’s voice boomed from the kitchen.

“Go on, join them.” Virgil said, “I’ll be fine by myself.”

“Thank you,” Logan said. He had a feeling the human was thanking him for more than a reassurance to join his friends.

Logan hurried off to the kitchen. The vampire fully expected to lie on the couch and listen to sounds of laughter erupt from the kitchen. He was surprised therefore to hear the sounds start to grow closer. He opened his eyes to see Patton enter the living room, Roman and Logan trailing behind him. Each of them held plates stacked with cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs.

“Hello! I hope you don’t mind the company!” Patton beamed, as he sat in an armchair next to the couch.

“I tried telling him you’d be fine, but he was worried about you being lonely.” Logan explained as he placed his plate on the coffee table.

Roman said nothing, pursing his lips as he sat down on the floor. His sword wasn’t on his person, Patton must’ve persuaded him to let go of it. He stared down at his cinnamon rolls, seemingly lost in thought.

Virgil glanced around the room. He tried speaking, but the words evaporated the mouth the moment his tongue clashed against his teeth to form coherent sounds. It wasn’t until Patton asked, “Oh dear! Are you alright?” that he realized he was crying.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil used his hoodie sleeve to wipe the tears off his face, “I’m being stupid.”

“No you’re not.”

Three heads whipped towards Roman in surprise.

“Look, I know we got to a bad start–”

“Understatement, much?” Virgil snorted.

“But after speaking with Patton, I realized I may have been quick to misjudge you based on atrocious stereotypes. I apologize for my behavior towards you, it wasn’t…right” Roman said, attempting not to glare at Virgil for his interruption, “I’m sure whatever it is, isn’t stupid.”

“Dammit, Princey.” Virgil whispered as his cheeks grew wet with tears once more.

“What? Did I do something wrong?!” Roman said, panicking.

“Why? Why are you guys being so nice to me?” Virgil laughed harshly, “I. Am. A. Vampire. You’re–you’re supposed to fear me and shit.”

“Do you want us to?” Logan asked.

“N-no,” Virgil drew a breath in, “but I’ve never met humans who weren’t afraid of me and humans who are afraid, well…”

Virgil slowly shook his head, “They don’t tend to be very nice.”

“Who are they? What are their names?” Patton’s form trembled with rage, “I will physically fight them!”

“Padre, while the notion is very honorable, it isn’t very conceivable.” Roman laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I agree with Roman, although Patton has the right idea. Vampire or not, you deserve to be treated with kindness.”

Virgil may or may have cried harder at that statement. For the first time in his life, after suffering in a foster care system unequipped to handle his needs, he met humans who were willing to look past his fangs. They were willing to treat him as a person with thoughts and feelings. He was not a mindless monster to their eyes.


	2. The Run and Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He stared at the front door, swallowing a lump in his throat. He woke up late by vampiric standards—three am. The Devil’s Hour. The humans were surely asleep, being the diurnal creatures that they were. He could leave now, and they’d never know.
> 
> In fact, Virgil planned to slip away at that moment. He couldn’t stay and take advantage of the humans’ kindness forever. His wounds were almost fully healed and it was only a matter of time before they kicked him out. He wasn’t sure if he could take that. He couldn’t even handle saying goodbye to them in person."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Acantha_Echo for beta'ing this chapter! <3
> 
> Chapter title is from "The Run and Go" by Twenty-One Pilots once again because I felt like this song was applicable to this chapter ;)
> 
> Warnings: Injury Mention, Bullying Mention, Self-Deprecation (If there's anything else, lmk!)

Virgil was a monster. Maybe not a mindless monster but a monster all the same. A monster that would endanger the others’ with just his very presence alone. He should’ve left the apartment as soon as he could. But he allowed himself to be persuaded into staying the night, and then the next.

He tried to put on an act of reluctance, but truthfully, he wanted to stay more than almost anything. Part of him wondered if this was a dream. There was no possible way that there were humans who could be so nice. But if they were real, he didn’t deserve them.

Despite the humans’ kind words, self-deprecation wasn’t something that could disappear overnight. He was certain he was going to mess things up. He had a history of doing just that.  He’d mess things up and then they’d hate him. They’d hate him and then perhaps turn that hatred towards the entire vampiric community. Virgil couldn’t let that happen.

He waited until his wounds were almost fully healed to slip out.

If a human sustained a wound similar to Virgil’s, it would’ve taken them weeks, maybe even months to recover. Taking a knife to the chest and surviving was no easy feat. The blood loss alone could kill you. But vampires were not bound to the same limitations as humans.

Compared to humans, vampires were cockroaches. It was damn near impossible to kill them. The surefire way to kill a vampire was to decapitate or drive a wooden stake into their heart. Silver was less effective, although if it stayed embedded in the vampire’s flesh long enough the poisoning would kill the vampire.

Things like holy objects and garlic cloves were only superstitions humans made up to make themselves feel safer. There was some truth to the holy objects, a silver crucifix would be just as painful to the touch as a silver spoon. The garlic thing though, Virgil had no idea.

Virgil’s wound nearly healed up within a few days—impossible by human standards. Still, if you asked Virgil, it wasn’t fast enough. He wasn’t used to feeling so weak and drained. He was never touching silver again if he could help it.

Though it wasn’t the first time he encountered silver, and doubtless it would be the last time either. Growing up, the kids at school thought it’d be fun to use silver on him. It was banned from the school, of course, but it didn’t stop them from sneaking it into their backpacks regardless. They thought it was funny to watch him wither on the ground in pain.

That didn’t mean he regret saving Logan’s life. If presented with the opportunity, he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

He stared at the front door, swallowing a lump in his throat. He woke up late by vampiric standards—three am. The Devil’s Hour. The humans were surely asleep, being the diurnal creatures that they were. He could leave now, and they’d never know.

In fact, Virgil planned to slip away at that moment. He couldn’t stay and take advantage of the humans’ kindness forever. His wounds were almost fully healed and it was only a matter of time before they kicked him out. He wasn’t sure if he could take that. He couldn’t even handle saying goodbye to them in person.

Instead, Virgil left a handwritten note on the couch, thanking them. It was better this way, for Virgil had never been good at verbalizing his thoughts in the first place. Writing was easier because he was able to formulate his thoughts without looking like an idiot in front of someone.

With a deep breath, he crept towards the door. There were no creaky floorboards, but Virgil was cautious all the same. Despite his fears, he reached the front door no problem. What he didn’t account for was the door to swing open of its own vocation. The unexpected sight of Patton standing there, plastic bag in hand, startled Virgil.

He yelped, scrambling backwards from the doorway.

“Hey kiddo, sorry to scare you like that.” Patton chuckled quietly as he closed the door behind him.

“it’s fine,” Virgil responded, eyeing Patton, “Not to be rude but um, aren’t humans usually asleep at time of night?”

Patton’s ever-present smile flickered, like a candle whose light was close to being snuffed out. He held onto the plastic bag tightly as he strolled past Virgil to the kitchen. He placed the bag onto the counter-top before swinging open the cupboards.

“I, uh, got the craving for ice cream and I couldn’t go back to sleep. It’s good thing twenty-four-hour convenience stores exist or else I would’ve had to wait until morning!” He chuckled awkwardly before looking back at Virgil, “want some?”

“What?” Virgil blinked.

“Would you like some ice cream?” Patton repeated the question with no hint of annoyance in his voice, “I couldn’t decide so I got both cookie dough and mint chocolate chip!”

He pulled out the pint-sized containers from the bag and waved them in front of Virgil. It wasn’t the first time Patton offered human food to him. The hospitable human tended to forget that as a vampire, human food had little nutritional value to it.

Some humans believed that their food tasted either bland or was near toxic for vampires to consume. When in fact that was very much the opposite case. Human food tasted just fine, the problem was that it never quite satisfied a vampire’s hunger the only way that blood could. There were some vampires who gorged themselves on human food, hoping their hunger would be soothed by anything other than blood. That of course always backfired spectacularly.

Virgil tried his best to politely refuse Patton’s offer each time. There was no reason to let the humans waste food when he didn’t require it.

“Um, no that’s okay. I wouldn’t probably like it, I never had ice cream before—”

“You’ve never had ice cream before?” Patton interrupted, his eyes widening in comedic horror at the idea.

“Well yeah,” Virgil shrugged his shoulders, “my foster parents never saw the need in giving me some.”

“Then we definitely need to remedy that!” Patton declared.

“No wait,” Virgil protested, realizing he had said the wrong thing, “It’s okay! You don’t need to waste your food on me—vampires don’t get any nutritional value from food—”

“Trust me, humans don’t get any nutritional value from ice cream either,” Patton laughed before his face softened, “it’s okay, Virgil. I’m alright with sharing—it’s better than me consuming the whole thing by myself.”

“Okay fine.” Virgil said, partly agreeing to pacify Patton, partly because—well. He was really curious what ice cream tasted like, dammit.

Patton took two bowls from the cupboards and started filling them with ice cream. Virgil took a seat at the small kitchen nook of the apartment.  Patton then placed the remaining ice cream in the freezer before walking up with two bowls filled with a mixture of cookie dough and mint chocolate chip.

“Here you go! I filled it with both flavors, so you can try both,” Patton said, plopping into the chair next to Virgil. The human began eagerly scooping ice cream into his mouth and hummed with delight.

Virgil nodded, dipping the spoon into the cookie dough portion of the ice cream. He stared at the mound of ice cream on his spoon. Cautiously, he raised the spoon to his mouth. Instantly, his mouth tingled from the cold treat swishing against his teeth.

“It’s…really sweet.” Virgil commented, several spoonful’s later.

“Most desserts are,” Patton informed him between mouthfuls of mint chocolate chip, “didja like it?”

“I—yeah.” Virgil swallowed, looking down at his bowl, “thank you, Patton.”

“No problem kiddo,” Patton said before lowering his voice, “I promise you can have all the ice cream in the world that you want.”

Dammit, why did Patton have to be so nice? He was going to start crying again at this rate.

“No, no that’s okay, Patton. This is more than enough.” Virgil gestured to his bowl.

Patton made a whining noise in the back of his throat, he looked too upset to form any coherent words. Virgil averted his gaze. He wanted to placate the human but like always he was just making things worse.

“I don’t understand,” Virgil confessed, “I’m a vampire—humans aren’t usually keen on sharing their food with us. We don’t need it—it’s wasteful. Please Patton—don’t waste food on me. I’m not worth it.”

“Did your foster parents never let you enjoy food at all?” Patton whispered.

He thought about all the times he sat at the dinner table, smelling the delicious aroma of the food. His foster family didn’t have to worry about providing him with blood to drink—he was given a monthly supply from the government. They never allowed him to drink at the table while they ate their own meal, however. He was forced to consume alone in his room.

Still, they’d reprimanded him if he took even just a small morsel of food.

“Yeah, but they were right in doing so. My hunger can’t be sustained by food. Sure, ice cream might be bad for humans—but you still feel full after eating it. Vampires just feel…empty when we consume food.”

Patton pursed his lips.

“It’s true I don’t know much about being a vampire, but I think if you enjoyed eating the ice cream, it’s okay if you had some from time to time. Food is supposed to be enjoyable. Like I said earlier, kiddo—I don’t mind sharing. I may not be as smart as Logan, but I know for humans—sharing food is more than just eating food together. It’s like—” Patton paused, probing for the right phrasing, “food tastes so much better when you’re sharing it with someone. Especially when you’re in the presence of a friend.”

Friend, wow.  Virgil hadn’t heard that word directed towards him since high school when—

Well, let’s just say it had been a while since he had a friend. The word felt alien—like it belonged to a different language entirely. The meaning of the word was lost to him. For so long it was him against the world. Everything and everyone were out to get him, including fellow vampires. He looked at Patton, swallowing. Did Patton actually mean it? It was true Logan and the others had opened up their apartment to him, a vampire. But everyone else in his life never did anything out of mere kindness. There was always a price tag attached to it.

But was it possible that wasn’t the case for Patton and the others?

Either way, Virgil needed to leave as soon as possible.

“I still don’t really understand,” He said, at last, “but I guess it’s okay if you say so.”

Patton’s face brightened. The two consumed the rest of their ice cream in silence. Virgil couldn’t deny that there was some truth to Patton’s words about food. It was comforting…spending time in this way with Patton. Once they had finished up and the dishes had been washed, Patton turned to look at Virgil.

“Do you wanna watch some Steven Universe episodes with me? I think we were on season 2 last we left off.”

That was right. During his stay Patton and Roman discovered the devastating news that Virgil wasn’t quite caught up on modern cartoons. They admonished Logan who hadn’t quite taken the news as seriously they had.

“While cartoons can tell compelling, emotional stories in the same depth as life-action movies, I do not understand how this is a quote ‘travesty’ unquote.”

They started him off with Steven Universe. Virgil had to admit if there was one thing he was going to miss besides the humans, it was that show. His old IPod was useless at anything other than playing music.

Still, it was nearing 3:30am and he knew in about five hours or so Patton would need to leave for his job. If he didn’t go to sleep now, he probably wouldn’t get any sleep at all. Humans were much more reliant on sleep than vampires. He’s seen the effects sleep deprivation had on them firsthand—and it wasn’t pretty.

“I mean, I’d love to. But shouldn’t you be getting some sleep?” Virgil asked, playing with the hood laces of the borrowed hoodie Logan had given him.

“Believe me, kiddo, I’d love to be asleep right now,” Patton let out a laugh, before it faded into a sigh, “But I struggle with…insomnia. Some nights are good…others are not.”

“I’m guessing today’s a bad night?” Virgil inwardly winced. Of course it was a bad night--Patton wouldn’t be up otherwise. Captain Obvious, much? But Patton didn’t show any indications of being offended by the question.

Patton nodded, “Please don’t tell Logan and Roman—they already worry enough about it.”

“They already know about it, then?” Virgil tilted his head.

“Yup! They kinda found out about it when I fainted after going without sleep for two days,” Patton scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “They’ve done their best to help me out since then—which don’t get me wrong! I appreciate their concern. But if they knew I had a bad night tonight, they’d feel bad for not being there when it isn’t their fault that my body has trouble falling asleep.”

He added softly, “Don’t be surprised if I fall asleep halfway through an episode…sometimes overstimulation is the only way I can drive my mind to the point of exhaustion to where I can’t do anything  _ but  _ sleep.”

He explained it to Virgil in a lackadaisical manner, like it was only a minor annoyance. As if it was a rainstorm that ruined his sunday afternoon picnic. Virgil didn’t understand how Patton could remain so positive and upbeat about the situation. Normally he saw such behavior as idiotic…but he had nothing but respect for Patton.

He probably should’ve offered his condolences to Patton, gave the obligatory, “I’m sorry you struggle with that” but being the socially awkward vampire that he was, he did none of that. 

“Okay,” He shrugged, walking towards the living room.

Virgil perched himself on top of the armrest of the couch. It was a habit grown out of teenage rebellion. His way of sticking it up to the Man was to disobey minor offenses such as sitting on surfaces that weren’t meant to be sat on. He was far too anxious to do anything too serious. Even though in high school—

No, dammit, why was his mind continually bringing up thoughts of high school tonight? He’d done well repressing those memories from his mind for years. Destress by repress was his personal life motto.

Patton hummed softly as he looked for the TV remote. Not blessed with incredible night vision, he turned a lamp on.

“Oh! What’s this?” He paused, his hand reached for something white and rectangular.

Virgil froze, crouched on the couch like a gargoyle. The letter. He completely forgot about the goodbye letter he left out for the others to find in the morning. He should’ve leapt from his spot and snatched the letter away from Patton. Or just be done with it and bolt out the front door.

But instead, he just sat there and stared as he watched Patton’s eyes move across the page. At the end, Patton let out a small sigh and carefully placed it on the end table.

“Virgil…do you have a safe place to stay?”

“U—um. I live in the park—which I’m guessing isn’t a safe place.” He hastily added, seeing how Patton’s face deepened with concern.

Normally he’d either lie or be more ambiguous to keep someone like Patton from worrying. But the question threw him for a loop. He wasn’t expecting Patton’s first words after he read the letter to be that. But apparently Patton was a decent person who happened to care about others. Who knew?!

You’d think after spending several days in their apartment he’d learn that already. But Virgil had been burned too many times before, and he wasn’t keen on getting burned again.

“Where do you stay in the park?” Patton cried.

Virgil hesitated.

“Well, sometimes I sleep at night in the trees—it’s the safest that way. If I’m too tired to climb up, I just? Sleep in a bush somewhere? It’s really not that bad mmmfh—!”

Patton pulled Virgil onto the couch and into his arms. He reminded Virgil of a python with how tightly he held onto him. Not in an uncomfortable sense though, it was firm and grounding and loving. It was like manna from heaven for his touch-starved soul.

“Virgil, listen. Even though the thought of you staying in the park makes me sad—you’re allowed to leave and do that if you wish. Just don’t go without saying goodbye, promise?” Patton didn’t wait for his answer before he continued, “however you’re completely welcomed to stay with us as long as you need, kiddo. You are part of the family now, got that?”

Family. There was yet another foreign word to Virgil’s vocabulary. It once brought up the various foster parents he had throughout his life. Before that, the images of a stern woman and a jolly man. It was a word filled with pain, yet when Patton used it—it made his heart ache in a good way. He never knew that could happen.

Virgil swallowed, “I—I think I’ll stay another day. Is that okay?”

Patton’s smile brightened.

“That’s A-Okay, kiddo,” He murmured, “are you still up for watching some Steven Universe?”

In the morning Logan and Roman found a tangled mess of limbs and blankets while Steven Universe blared in the background. Patton was curled up at Virgil’s side, fast asleep at last. The other draped his arm protectively over Patton.

Both of them thought Virgil was asleep until Logan neared and his eyes fluttered open.

“Don’t wake him,” The vampire growled softly, “He fell asleep only an hour ago.”

“Ah,” Logan’s eyes lit up with understanding and turned to look over at Roman.

“I’ll call into his work and let them know he won’t be coming in today.” He said, scurrying off to find his phone.

“How are your wounds?” Logan whispered to Virgil once Roman left.

“They’re fine,” Virgil said, before adding hesitantly, “Patton said I could stay another day—that’s okay, right?”

“Of course,” Logan answered without hesitation, “you may stay as long as you like.”

Logan observed how the vampire let out a long inhale at those words. His lips parted as if to say more only to be interrupted.

For Patton had stirred, causing both of them to freeze. Thankfully, he was still in the throes of sleep, only shifting closer against Virgil’s side.

“I’ll leave you two be for now,” Logan said as he strolled into the kitchen.

He snuck a glance backwards and almost stumbled in surprise at what he saw. A full-blown smile laid on the vampire’s lips as he dozed off once more.


	3. Pasta La Vida

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Roman Prince was aware that he could be kind of a jerk at times. He was not proud of those times. For all his prattle about exemplifying princely behavior he wasn’t very good at sticking to his words.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Massive thanks to Acantha_Echo for not only beta’ing but helping brainstorm this whole chapter with me. I couldn’t have done it without them!
> 
> Now, I have three future chapters already prewritten after this one, but I do not have the connecting chapters finished just yet. I will try to get Chapter 4 done by next Saturday but it may or may not happen.
> 
> Chapter Warnings: Injury Mention, Blood Mention, Food Mention, Hospital Mention, Poor Self-Care, Crying, Consummation of Raw Cookie Dough

Roman Prince was aware that he could be kind of a jerk at times. He was not proud of those times. For all his prattle about exemplifying princely behavior he wasn’t very good at sticking to his words. All he wanted in life was to be a hero. He wanted to be someone who helped those in need. Maybe not something as exciting as defeating a dragon-witch. But as long as he could do even the simplest of tasks for someone, he was satisfied.

Unfortunately, he’d been anything but a hero to their new vampiric roommate. He was, dare he say it, as atrocious as a dastardly villain. He’d immediately assumed the worse the second Virgil arrived in their apartment.

It had been a long day of rehearsals for Roman, and he had been watching Sleeping Beauty to wind down. Patton was busy making cookies. Although Roman was certain there was more dough being consumed than any actual baking going on. Without Logan to regulate him, Patton had a bad habit of eating a whole cookie dough batch in one sitting.

Logan had left about an hour ago to go stargazing. Sometimes Patton and Roman opted to go along with him. Patton would play on his ukulele as Roman belted out the lyrics to the songs. Occasionally he coaxed Logan to join in with his monotone singing.

It was typical for Logan not to return to the apartment until sometime after midnight. When the doorknob jiggled only an hour after Logan left, Roman knew something was wrong. He stood up from the couch.

“Hey specs what’s—”

“I need the first aid kit, _now_.”

Roman froze, because the last thing he expected was Logan hauling an unconscious bleeding stranger into their apartment. He snapped out of his stupor what felt like an eternity later, rushing in the direction of the bathroom cabinets. A million questions swarmed in his brain.

What happened? Who was the man? Why didn’t Logan take him to the hospital?

He swung open the cabinets, causing the doors to bang against the walls. His eyes scanned its shelves before spying the first-aid kit at the very top. It was big and bulky because Logan insisted on being overly prepared for emergencies. Roman always made fun of it—making snarky comments whenever he had a paper cut and needed a band-aid. But never after today, would he make fun of the first-aid kit.

First aid kit in hand, Roman ran back to the living room area. Logan and the stranger were no longer standing at the front doorway. Instead, he heard hushed voices in the kitchen. Patton must’ve came after he heard the commotion and brought them over to the kitchen.

He went down the opposite hallway and entered the kitchen area. There, the stranger laid on top of their kitchen table, which had been covered with beach towels. Logan and Patton stood by the table, their backs turned away from Roman.

He cleared his throat, causing the two of them to turn towards him.

“I got the first aid kit.” He said, his voice hoarse not only from rehearsals but also shock.

Logan snatched the first aid kit and started rummaging through it. Roman couldn’t stand it any longer. He had to know what the hell was going on.

“Logan what’s—”

The words died on his lips as Patton placed a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder. He glanced down at Patton, who looked moments away from crying. Patton was an empathetic person by nature so Roman didn’t doubt that the sight of the stranger distressed him.

“Let’s go into the living room, okay?”

“But—”

“I’ll explain things there, _I promise_.” Patton interrupted, taking hold of Roman’s hand and dragging him over to the living room.

Sleeping Beauty was left on, forgotten in the commotion. It was at the scene where Aurora, entranced by Maleficent, pricked her finger on the spindle of cursed spinning wheel. Roman would never admit, but the scene had freaked him out as a kid. He felt like he was in a trance of his own as he stared at the television screen. This couldn’t be real, could it? This was just absurd.  It had to be a dream. Surely, he dozed off halfway through the movie.

Patton, upon noticing Roman’s attention was diverted towards the movie, picked up the remote and shut it off.

Roman blinked, breaking out of the trance.

“I’m sorry—just,” He took a deep breath, “just what exactly is going on?”

“I think you should sit down for this, kiddo.” Patton said, patting the seat next to him.

Roman huffed but complied to his wishes. Arms crossed, he stared expectantly at Patton to begin explaining. The other collected himself for a minute, before he started relating what Logan had told him. Roman sat, doing his best to absorb the information. At one point, Patton almost broke down crying and he did his best to console him.

Roman gritted his teeth, attempting to withhold his own tears. Logan almost _died_ while he was sitting on the couch watching Disney movies. He should’ve been there for him. Not a...a vampire of all beings.

“So, we have a vampire in our apartment,” He murmured, hoping that saying it out loud would help make it seem more real to him, “A _vampire_ . In our _apartment_.”

“A vampire that _saved_ Logan’s life.” Patton reminded him firmly.

Roman opened his mouth to say more, but Logan called for Patton’s help and Roman was left alone with his thoughts in the living room. It was never a good thing when Roman was alone with his thoughts.

Case in point, the events that occurred that very next morning.

Virgil was understandably still wary of him. Roman would be too if he woke up in an unfamiliar place with someone practically shoving a sword in his face. Although they had somewhat amicable interactions since then, Virgil was noticeably more relaxed around Logan and Patton.

It was clear that Roman needed to put action behind his words. He needed to show Virgil that he was apologetic for his behavior and that he’d never try attempting to harm him again.

Which was why he was currently cooking Italian food in the kitchen in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

Logan had an emergency vet call and Patton had gone out to run an errand. Which just meant it was Roman and Count Woelaf. The vampire mostly slept during the day which was perfect, because it meant that Roman could enjoy his pasta in peace.

Roman was cooking Italian food to enjoy it one last time. Because starting from this point on, Roman was going to clean the kitchen of all garlic related products. Everyone knew that garlic was hazardous to vampires. That was just Vampires 101!

But removing garlic from the kitchen, meant removing food like the coveted garlic bread. Something that would be difficult for Roman, whose mother’s family had been Italian-American for several generations. But he was willing to give it up if it meant keeping the apartment vampire-proof.

However, he couldn’t just _go_ to an Italian restaurant. They’d butcher his family’s recipes that was already a drastic misinterpretation of Italian food. Not that he knew that. Like all Americans, he assumed that of course Italian cuisine the same as it was in the US.

With Virgil asleep, he figured he could safely consume the food and get rid of the evidence before the vampire even woke up.  

The oven’s timer beeped, alerting him that the garlic bread was done. He stopped attending to the pasta to pull out the crispy golden bread out of the oven. The smell caused his mouth to water.

“Patience,” He told himself as he placed it on the countertops to cool down.

He then focused his attention back on the pasta, his back facing the countertops. He sang as he worked, belting out a medley of Broadway songs. He barely registered that someone had shuffled into the kitchen.

“Hey Princey,”

“It’s the laaaaast midnight—oh, hello Count Drearcula!”

Wait a minute.

Roman’s head snapped back just in time to see Virgil about to take a bite from one of the garlic breads.

“Virgil, no!” He shrieked, running over to slap the bread out of his hand.

There was a beat of silence as both of them stood there. Virgil stared at the fallen garlic bread, gaping in shock. The vampire’s frame trembled.

“I’m sorry—

“You better be!” Roman threw up his arms, “That was garlic bread—YOU COULD’VE DIED!”

Virgil blinked. “Wait, what?”

“You know garlic? One of the few things that’s basically your kryptonite?” Roman inhaled, “Look, I’m sorry—I’m getting rid of all of our garlic, I just really wanted to enjoy some garlic bread one last time and—”

“You’re throwing out all the garlic food for me?” Virgil interrupted, his eyes wide, “you’d…really do that?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” Roman asked before sighing, “Look, keeping garlic out of the house is the least I can do to make sure you’re safe for however long you’d like to stay.”

Virgil looked at him, stark amazement on his face. His mouth parted and closed—appearing to be struggling to find the right words to say. Eventually he gave up.

He laughed instead, causing Roman to recoil because of two reasons. One, it was the first time he’d ever seen Virgil truly laugh and two, he had no idea why he was laughing. Once Virgil’s laughter subsided, a mischievous gleam appeared in his eyes.

“Watch this,” He said before stuffing a whole piece of garlic bread down his throat quicker than Roman could stop him.

Roman’s breath seized, and he inwardly wondered if Virgil was going to burn up before his eyes.

“Huh, it tastes stronger than I imagined.” A Very Much Alive Virgil commented, licking off the garlic seasoning on his fingertips.

"B-b-but garlic—vampires—”

“—is just a myth,” Virgil shrugged, but his eyes softened, “You didn't know. Though you really didn't have to throw out all your garlic food for me even if it was real."

“Wha—of course I did!” Roman exclaimed, “and if garlic’s a myth than what are the things that actually harm you?”

“Why do you want to know?” Virgil asked, narrowing his eyes.

“To make sure you’re safe!” Roman said, affronted, “I’d hate for you to accidentally get harmed by something in the apartment, and I know both Logan and Patton feel the same. I know you don’t really trust me—and I don’t blame you after I treated you so—so villainously! But, well, Logan and I happened to see that note…”

“O-oh.” Virgil swallowed.

“You aren’t a burden to us, Virgil. I mean, you saved Logan from a maniac with a knife! Something I would’ve surely done but I…wasn’t there. You were. You didn’t even know Logan and you still risked your life. That I find to be truly admirable! And if you’d like to stay with us, we wouldn’t mind at all. In fact, I think Patton would get a little depressed if you left.” Roman chuckled awkwardly.

He heard a sniffle and looked up to see that there were tears running down the vampire’s cheeks.

“Dammit Princey,” Virgil said, as he tried wiping away the tears with the sleeves of his hoodie, “not again.”

Roman’s eyes crinkled.

He opened his mouth to give a witty response, when a loud gargle echoed in the kitchen.

“Was that your stomach?” He stared at Virgil.

The vampire’s eyes shifted towards the ground, “Yeah.  But it’s okay—”

“Now, none of that!” Roman waved a hand, “Logan is away, and I have no idea when he’ll be back. Besides, when’s the last time you…drank? Fed?”

Virgil continued staring at the ground. Roman took his silence as a confirmation that it had been much longer than it should’ve been.

“ _Virgil,_ ” Roman said, admonished.

“Look, I didn’t want to…inconvenience you guys. It’s fine, I can go several weeks without feeding.”

“But is that healthy?” Roman countered, suddenly feeling too much like Logan when he reprimanded Roman for missing meals when he got too swept up in his projects.

“No,” Virgil admitted grumpily.

“So, let’s remedy that!” Roman said, gesturing to himself.

The vampire looked back up at Roman, scrutinizing him.

“Are you sure?” He said at last, “I mean, I know it’s weird and—”

“I am sure,” Roman said, his lips curved upwards.

A flicker of realization crossed Virgil’s face—his eyes widened just a fraction and his mouth hung open. Roman didn’t know exactly what Virgil was thinking—he wasn’t a mind reader. But its as if in that moment Virgil finally realized that Roman and the others truly cared for him.  That they’d do anything to make sure that he, an abandoned and abused outcast of society, knew that he was deserving of love.

“Okay,  _fine_ ,” Virgil rolled his eyes, making a big show of still being reluctant towards the idea.

But Roman smirked, because he knew otherwise.


End file.
